My Story Is Not A “Rock Bottom” Story. I Am Simply At a Place I Don’t Want To Stay

Alright it’s update time. I promised that I would share my journey of losing the baby weight so I must keep my promise. But let me tell you that one was HARD to write and I know I procrastinated longer than I should have…sorry!

My Story Is Not A “Rock Bottom” Story. I Am Simply At a Place I Don’t Want To Stay. Let me explain this statement…..My personal story about my weight is not one which will bring you to tears. I don’t feel like it is emotional or will tug at your heart strings. I am simply at a place I don’t want to be because I had a baby and gained weight and still have some work to do. I don’t feel depressed about it like I hit rock bottom and it doesn’t ruin my day or stop me from enjoying a family holiday. I feel it is as simple as that. For me that is…..because its not that easy for a majority of other people. It’s hard work. And it takes time and patience.

Why do I feel like its simple for me? Because I know the body is awesome and it can change. We can do exercises that promote fat loss, or muscle gain, or muscle and cardiovascular endurance to carry us long distances for runs. And I also know how emotional the journey can be. I know how you have to keep this warrior attitude about this process as it can consume you. Even on those days that your jeans are fitting tight and you caught a glimpse of yourself in the mirror that you weren’t thrilled about, that attitude needs to stick and stay so you can keep moving forward. Weight loss is HARD and you need to be consistent to see the results. And the fact that this is my career and I know the secret recipe to get from point A to point B helps a little too….

I admit I did put off eating balanced at first. There were some foods I really missed that I couldn’t have when I was pregnant (I’ll enlighten you later in this blog about my eating habits). As soon as my body was ready I did start working out. Starting slowly with walks with the baby in the stroller, and moving on to 30 minute elliptical sessions, short distance running, and body weight exercises until I could work back into using weights, sliders, bands, bosu ball, TRX, spin bike and everything else that I love. Even though I did lose a ton of strength from being very limited to my activity when I was pregnant I am proud of how well my body jumped back into the exercise routine. While I am definitely still not back to the level I was before I was pregnant I do feel stronger and on the right path.

Starting to write this post was very hard for me. As silly as it might, sound what was holding me up were the pictures. I know how motivating and impactful it can be when you see ‘before’ and ‘after’ pictures. I’ve done photo shoots before. I know that tighter clothes and less clothes make more of a statement. But that’s not my style, I just didn’t want to post pictures.

I wasn’t sure when I should take the “before” picture. Your body changes so much on its own right after you give birth that a picture soon after would seem deceitful. Should I take a picture of my stomach before and after? That wasn’t me. I’m not striving to show off a 6 pack ab look. What should I do?

Then one early morning it came to me…..I DID work hard to get where I am. And I DID stay consistent with what and how much I was eating. I had a million of excuses I could have used; baby was up multiple times during the night, I had to work early, work late, I was back to working full time, our oldest daughter had soccer, or basketball, or violin, or girl scouts. I was too busy to grocery shop and meal plan……I could fill in a lot of things here.

I am currently 3 lbs away from by pre-baby weight. So close right? Here is the real truth. It will take some time to get to where I was before. To me my body composition is more important than the scale. Ever put on a pair of pants and everything fit pretty well besides the fat you felt overflow from the top? Or when you wave you feel like the back of your arms are doing their own wave? Yep you can be “skinny” but have a poor body composition and too much fat. My goal is to be back to my pre-baby body composition within the next 6 months.

So this is my “before” and “after” picture if we want to call it that. I took both of these last week. I fear people will look at this first picture and see little fat but I have to always keep it real and truthful . We can all grab fat like this from our stomachs. Sure I can grab more now than what I did before baby but I will always have some. It’s a good thing I am already married. These pictures wouldn’t win me any dates.

If you have never had your body composition measured you should seriously consider getting hooked up with someone who can do a skin-fold test. You will learn exactly how your body is responding to your workout routine (losing or gaining muscle, how much fat you are losing, etc). Cutting your calories too low with added exercise can cause you to lose muscle and still gain fat so beware! Many home scales will have the ability to give you a percentage by stepping on them however their accuracy is pretty poor. When you are talking +/- 6-8 % error rate that is pretty significant. It’s well worth the small investment in yourself to have it done.

So how did I do it you ask? Ivy is 14 weeks old and I have lost 25 pounds with 3 more to go.

If you haven’t seen my meal plan yet. This is what I follow http://www.creatingafitlife.com/2016/10/20/meal-plan-1. I also include vegetables always for lunch and dinner no matter what it was. …..Pizza and brussel sprouts do go together!!! And if I needed a snack I reach for vegetables if possible.

But lets get real. I did eat Doritos, Ice cream, french fries, Halloween candy, chips and queso (gosh how I missed having queso when I was pregnant) wine, and lots of caffeine.

BUT in my defense I did not have a huge quantity of each. I never felt like I overate and had that stuffed feeling, or the “why did I just do that?” moment (not even on Thanksgiving…high five to me). I only ate when I was hungry. I didn’t eat just because the clock said it was noon and that is lunch time or because some “diet” said I should eat a certain food at a specific time. I am not a fan of dieting! And I always felt in control. Well besides right after having Ivy….I may have went overboard with the queso, that stuff is amazing. I did have to have a detox from the cheesy goodness for awhile. And I do need to cut back on caffeine although it is a life saver on some days.

Determination

I try not to make excuses. I know I’m not the busiest person in the world but I do feel I have enough going on in a day to fill all 24 hours if sleep wasn’t a necessity. My husband and I both work full time but we arrange our schedules so baby Ivy doesn’t need to do daycare. It’s awesome! We both love all the time with her. But it can make it a little more challenging to exercise so many times I workout with her beside me at home.

If you can look at weight loss as a challenge to tackle and accomplish, it can take some weight off your shoulders. There is no time line for this. Honor your body and respect it by treating it with care through proper nutrition and exercise. Get that warrior attitude on and stay determined!